Good Customer Service Is Important

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Good customer service is something important to me. In my own work in publishing, I try hard to deliver some basics of good customer service in my responses through email or on the phone or in the mail. It is important to be timely and thorough in this process.

There are countless examples of companies that don't practice good customer service and I wanted to point out a recent example. For the last several years I get my internet connection, landline and television bundled through CenturyLink. Overall I've been pleased with their service and responsiveness. My wife and I enjoy using our DVR to record television programs then watch them together. We watch a variety of different types of programs.

Last Sunday I went to one of the standard stations— CBS and found a message from DirectTV (the television arm of CenturyLink). Apparently DirectTV and CBS are in “negotiations” for service and that service is now disrupted—i.e. you can't get it. No one knows how long these “negotiations” are going to be going on. I called the billing area of CenturyLink and learned this disruption was a complete surprise to them as well. DirectTV did nothing proactive to warn their customers. They simply put up a screen on the disruption.

In this article from the Wall Street Journal, I discovered I was one of 6.6 million people having this experience with DirectTV. Someone at DirectTV  knew this was going to happen and they did nothing proactive to help their customers. Apparently there is some local cable where you can still get the channels when you attachment. I've been trying for the last few days to get one of these local connectors from DirectTV but they are “back ordered” (little surprise here). The package finally came but it is not a simple fix with pages of instructions and various wires and connections (not hooked up at my place yet).

I'm certain with the millions of customers involved and missing a standard network channel, someone at CBS and DirectTV are doing some consistent work to resolve this customer service nightmare. My key point in this article is some of these people knew this was going to happen and they did nothing to warn their customers or partners like CenturyLink (at least that is obvious).

Here are some basics for good customer service:

1. Answer your phone and return your phone calls.

2. Answer and respond to email.

3. In your answers, attempt to resolve the issues if possible. I can think of several emails from Morgan James authors this past week where I wasn't the right person to answer the author's question. I still responded and pointed them to other people on the team who could provide the answers. At least they heard a response from me—even if not the response they wanted.

How important is good customer service to you? How do you handle it in your own writing life? Let me know in the comments below.

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Learning On the Road

For many years, I’ve been traveling on airlines to different events and conferences. Admittedly traveling is hard on your bags and suitcases. I’ve had to replace bags and once I even had to send my my laptop bag sent off for repair.

With all of my travel, I’ve never gotten my bag off the plane with damage—until this month. My travel goes in spurts and during the month of March I am making four different trips and a series of flights each time. On the first flight to celebrate the 89^th birthday of my mother, I landed in Lexington, Kentucky and pulled my suitcase off the baggage carousel. Several hours earlier in Denver when I checked in the bag, the suitcase had four rotating wheels. Now in Lexington, my suitcase had three wheels. With the missing wheel, it wobbled.

My sister suggested I file a damage bag report with American Airlines. I learned these damage reports have to be filed immediately before leaving the airport. I went to the ticket desk and filled out the report, then went on with my trip to celebrate time with my Mom. A few days later, I returned home with my broken suitcase then noticed the bag sustained additional damage—a missing zipper. With a damaged bag, you have to give it back to the airline empty. Then they will either repair it or replace the bag. 

I emptied my suitcase and  took it with me to the Denver airport on my second of four trips. American Airlines took my bag when I checked into the airline with my bags for travel. I made my second trip and returned home. Then I called American to check on my bag repair. They told me it could take as long as three weeks so I assumed I would not have my suitcase for my month of travel. Also they told me the broken zipper (which happened on the return trip) was not on the original claim and likely would not be repaired. I wondered what would happen with my bag.

Between my second and third trips, the FedEx man delivered a huge box to my front door. It held my repaired suitcase and everything including the broken zipper was repaired.  I hear a lot these days about the challenges of travel and the poor customer service from the airlines. I believe it is also worth praising the airlines when they serve their customers well and do something exceptional. It’s why I believed I should include this article.

Several things:

1. If your bag is damaged, report it immediately to the airline.
2. Praise and thank the airline for their good customer service when you receive it. 

I love having a good news travel story to report to you.

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My Plans for The New Year

As we begin a New Year, many people are making resolutions, setting goals and plans for the year ahead. I'm right there with you and in this article, I'm going to layout some of my personal plans. I hope you will find some insights and inspiration for your own writing life. Instead of resolutions or goals, I have six areas with actions in each area to highlight.

1. Take Responsibility for My Own Success.

I've mentioned this aspect a number of times in these articles. Over the holidays a long-time publishing friend sent me a letter addressed to marketers. This author has written a number of books with traditional publishers. His concern is one I've heard many times from writers (and I've voiced myself in the past). The publisher has marketing departments and why aren't they marketing. He's a writer and he does not want to be turned into a marketer. He doesn't want to blog or tweet or Facebook or _____ to market his book. He wants to be left to his writing craft. The letter is laced with frustration. I hear it—yet it is not reality of today's book market.

Here's a dose of reality according to my friend Penny Sansevieri, currently there are at least 4,500 books published every day. As an author, how are you going to break through that noise and actually sell books (succeed)? It will not happen trying to pass the responsibility to someone else (like a marketing department). It happens by taking responsbility for your own success (the first principle of the bestselling The Success Principles from Jack Canfield). I've mentioned Canfield and Victor Hansen's Rule of Five. You may not commit to five actions but what can you do and do it consistently? I'm committed to consistently working at my own success.

2. Re-commit to being a good communicator and writer.

As an editor and writer, I work in the communication business. Even on the holiday with my publisher “closed,” I've been answering a few emails and writing my authors and others. It's a chronic problem throughout the industry: silence. I'm again committed to solid customer service. Yes it takes effort but is well worth it in my view and helps me stand out in a crowded market.

3. Continue my own spiritual development.

While I've rarely written about it in this blog, you can tell from my list of published books and the type of books that I write, I'm a Christian. (Read here for the story of my life change). For many years, I've been reading through the Bible (cover to cover). I select different versions and tools for this reading but I've made another commitment to read through the Bible again during the coming year. These few moments each day feed into my spiritual development and life.

4. Continue my own personal growth.

I often write about different books or online courses or audios or other ways that I'm developing as a writer and communicator. This week I purchased a simple cord to connect my iPhone to the audio system in my car. I download the free audio book through Overdrive and can play the book over my car speakers. I'm constantly learning something new and applying it to my daily life. I hope you will do the same.

5. Continue working on my own health.

Each of us have a finite number of days on the earth and as a writer and editor, I spent a great deal of time sitting (not moving). For over a year, I ignored exercise and my weight showed it. In the last few months, I've recommitted to working on my health (good eating but also consistent exercise). It's not easy and consumes time from other things but is a priority for me (and hopefully for you).

6. Continued commitment to helping others (including you).

As we close out 2015 and begin 2016, I have the continued commitment to teach others what I'm learning about the publishing world. It's been the focus of The Writing Life for years and also my free teleseminars, my personal teaching at conferences, my books and other ways I'm helping like through my tweets. This commitment will continue. In the last couple of days, I reworked and updated my Platform Building Ideas for Every Author. Now this resource is ready to help you and others in the days ahead.

I hope these plans have encouraged you to take action in your writing life. The days ahead will be bright and full of hope. Here's to an exciting New Year.

The Essence of Simple Customer Service

As an editor, I make a number of phone calls each day. I also send a great deal of email. Sometimes it feels like those emails go into a black hole and no one hears their voice mail or reads their email. I understand that feeling isn't real but it seems that way from the lack of response.

This week I had several authors respond to my calls and emails in a refreshing way. Everyone is busy. We go on vacation and special outings with our family. We step away from our offices or have some sort of family crisis. Those situations are understandable.

One of my authors sent an email saying they were out of town but would get back to me next week. Another author emailed that she received my message and was going to respond early next week. These authors sent short emails but let me know they received my message and were going to be responding to it soon. Can you respond in this way to let the other person know you received their call or email? To me, it is simple customer service yet important communication.

Recently I interviewed Rick Frishman, publisher at Morgan James. You can hear our interview and have immediate access to the replay. For many years, Rick ran one of the largest public relations companies in the U.S. based in New York City called Planned Television Arts (now called Media Connect). During the call, Rick pointed out that he answers his own email and returns his phone calls. He doesn't have an assistant or someone else to do it, he does it. I identified with what he was saying because I handle it the same way. I return my phone calls and emails.  Like Rick, I do not have an assistant handle returning calls or email. I personally do it.

From my experience, the higher up the chain of command that you reach, often the quicker the response. Leaders and executives understand the importance of good communication. The response is often not long and maybe even be a few words—but you hear from the person almost right away.

The essence of simple customer service is to return calls and respond to emails. It's almost a lost art in our world—but if you practice it, you will stand out and be the exception—and noticed. 

What actions in returning calls and answering your emails can you take today?

The Power of Social Media

Last week the switch of an electrical device that I use daily got stuck on—and refused to turn off. It had a mechanical failure and was less than a year old. Online I looked up the customer service number and called the manufacturer.

I was on hold a long time (at least 30 minutes) and finally reached a customer service person. This person offered to send a replacement device. When it arrived, I would use the same package to return the defective device. Toward the end of the conversation she told me it could take up to two weeks for the replacement to arrive.

“That is unacceptable,” I responded. “I need it much quicker than two weeks.”

She launched into her standard language about how they couldn't do it any quicker. I asked to speak to a supervisor.

Waiting on hold another length of time, finally a supervisor came on the line. She also held to the company line that it would take up to two weeks for the replacement. I tried a different approach.

“I don't suspect you like negative complaints about your product. I have over 84,000 twitter followers. You can look up my name to verify that fact. Unless you get me the replacement part quick, I'm prepared to begin speaking negatively about your product and your customer service.”

The supervisor thought about what I was telling her. She said she would have to appeal to her supervisor to get that approval.

“That's fine. I'll wait,” I told her. I waited on hold another stint until this second supervisor got on the phone. He listened to my threat to begin complaining on social media about their customer service and product. 

He made a decision. “We can send the replacement second day air,” he said then instructed the first customer service person on the details about reach the correct screen to select this option. My replacement part came in a couple of days, works fine and I returned the defective device.

Firsthand, I saw the power of social media to convince the supervisor that it was better to send the part quickly than to risk the wrath of twitter.

The Simple Actions Still Count

For a long-time, I’ve had a simple yet effective practice. When someone calls me and leaves a message, I return their call or email them a response. It is almost a lost art in our culture or so it seems to me.

I meet many authors in my travels and offer to help them with their book publishing needs through our robust publishing efforts at Morgan James Publishing. We receive over 5,000 submissions a year and have a publication board where I champion books for authors. The process is selective and we only publish about 150 to 200 titles each year. I’m actively looking for great book proposals and manuscripts. As a part of my search for quality materials, I will email and/or call authors to find out how things are going with their book or ask about the update on their book project. Many times the person will never respond through email or phone. 

I understand we live busy lives but there seems to be a basic courtesy for returning calls which is missing from many people.

I’d like to know if the author has set their book concept aside for now or if something else has happened in their life. Without any response through email or phone, I’m left to wonder.

I recommend you use the tools which are available on your phone to make this process effective and efficient. For example, consider the feature of forwarding your phone number. Do you use it?

It is part of my standard practice whenever I leave my office that I forward my office phone to my cell phone. If someone calls my office phone it rings my cell. If I’m unavailable then the person can leave a message.

For example, at the moment I’m writing this article in an airplane and my cell phone is turned off. When the plane lands, I turn my phone on and any messages will show up. I will listen to these messages and return my calls. It seems like a straightforward business practice to me. Yet the longer I’m in business, the fewer people who seem to practice this simple customer service action. 


Maybe one of you can leave a comment and explain it to me since I believe it is the proper way to conduct business. These simple actions like answering email and phone calls make a large impression.

The Crux of Good Business

It may seem pretty basic but if you are going to work in the communication business, you need to work at this thing called communication. It seems like I need to work at it every day--even when I don't want to work at it.

Recently one of my customers wrote and said, “This EBook has not been up to my expectations and I wish to request a refund. I don't believe the content was substantial enough to merit the $39 cost.”

The comment made me a bit angry and I wanted to come back in protest. After all I had sold many copies of this same Ebook around the world without a single person asking for a refund. Wasn't it my “right” to protest such a request?

Instead I dropped it and simply refunded the money. On my website, I have a “no questions asked refund policy.” It says that if you ask for a refund, then I refund the money. It’s straightforward and simple.

This customer had requested a refund so I was going to return the money. Within the hour, I sent the money along with this note to the customer, “I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you this time. I hope to work with you again later on.”

Notice my comment leaves the door open for this customer to return and purchase another product from me at a later date.

Over the years in business, I’ve learned several important lessons in this area of customer service which are important for every business person.

1. Never burn a bridge. Relationships are critical and it is important for you to take steps to preserve your relationship. Someone may return a product today but become a major monthly client if you handle the return properly. It is never worth burning a bridge with some snappy comeback.

2. Always deliver prompt customer service. When someone emails me about a product, I try and answer within 24 hours. I don’t care if I’m traveling and away from home or where I am when I get the request. I quickly send a response. If I can resolve it, then I try and resolve it. If I need to explain that I’m on the road and will resolve it in the next day, then I send that message. My customers deserve a timely response.

When I have a customer service issue with a product or service, I’m expecting a prompt response. As Jesus said in Matthew 7:12, “Do unto others as you want them to do unto you.” It’s called the Golden Rule for a reason.

3. Be certain to respond. Whether the customer service issue is someone asking for one of my free products or someone asking to return a product that they have purchased, I attempt to deliver prompt customer service. I have a simple principle: when someone write or calls, I call them back or email them in response. In today’s world it is shocking the lack of response from vendors. If you take this simple step, it will distinguish you from the others.

Communication and quick resolution will pay off for you and build rapport which will preserve your reputation and build trust.

Here's the “rest of the story.” The Ebook that I'm talking about was Writing For The Christian Market. Recently I was talking with som

eone about a Christian publishing company and the way they treated their customers. The person I was talking with was not a Christian but he complained, "This company talks all over their site about God and uses that reason why people should use their company. Because they are Christians, I hold them to a higher standard of excellence." While I didn't turn the discussion into one about faith and standards, I agreed with the person.

What are you doing to foster or hinder good communication in your writing life? That connection is critical in many different areas of life and it was a good reminder for me.

Overcome A One Star Review on Amazon

It is a shock to check out the customer reviews on Amazon and learn some reader has found your book worthy of a one star review. I've had it happen. I'm even including an image to show you the one star review. Yet it can be overcome and I'm going to give you the details.

Amazon has the biggest online bookstore on the planet. Yes they sell much more than books but if you have a book, you want to pay attention to the customer reviews on the page. Readers are constantly reading these reviews and making a buying decision about your book from those reviews.

I love books and regularly read new books. One of the ways I support good books is to take a few minutes and write a short review of the book and a rating on Amazon. I'm often surprised when I go to the book on Amazon and discover three or four reviews. Or often I'm the first person to write a customer review about a book. It did not happen in an instant but I've continued building a body of work through these customer reviews and I've written over 330 Amazon reviews. Many of them are positive because I'm writing the reviews to support authors that I love their writing. In some cases they are controversial. For example, check out the reviews of Malled: My Unintentional Career in Retail by Caitlin Kelly. While the book has only been out three months, it has a mixture of positive and negative reviews. People either love this book or strongly dislike it. Here's the permanent link for my review of Malled. It is worth reading and I enjoyed this book.

The Shack by William Paul Young has been rooted in mixed views since it was published. People either love or hate this book but it continues to be a bestselling book. At this writing, it has over 4,600 reviews. Notice the mixture of almost 3,000 Five Star reviews and over 800 One Star reviews. Yet because of the overwhelming majority of Five Star reviews, the average is Four Stars for this book.

The key fact that many authors overlook is that the Amazon stars are averaged. If your book has dozens of Five Star reviews, then you can overcome any low reviews. Now if you only have one or two reviews for your book, then a low review has a lot of impact on the average.

If you have a book, here's several ideas for you with your Amazon page:

1. Monitor your page on a regular basis. Many authors ignore the page where their book is located. I regularly check these pages for my books and note any activity.

2. If someone has written a Five Star review, then use that information. Tell others about it. When I see that anyone has written a Five Star review about my book, then I tweet about it to my followers with a link to the review. These tweets generate even more buzz about your book.

3. It does not have to be a new book. Also work on your older books. For example, my Book Proposals That Sell has been out in the market for years. Currently there are over 95 Five Star reviews on Amazon.

4. Whenever anyone emails me about how my Book Proposals That Sell helped them, I respond back in appreciation then I ask them to go over to the Amazon page, cut and paste those sentences along with a Five Star review (and I remind them that the Five Star review is important because the stars are averaged). Not everyone takes action and writes the review—but a certain number of them will post the review.

As you increase the number of Five Star reviews for your book, you are also protecting your book when you get a one star review. As you can see from the illustration from my page at Book Proposals That Sell, I have a few one star reviews. In spite of those reviews, my average is still Five Stars. You can overcome a low review if you are aware and working at it.

Whether you have written many books or no books, do support books with simple straight forward reviews on Amazon. You will be making a difference and helping others make wise buying decisions.

Good Communication Is Critical

It may seem pretty basic but if you are going to work in the communication business, you need to work at this thing called communication. It seems like I need to work at it every day--even when I don't want to work at it.

This past week, I received a strongly written email. Someone had purchased one of my Ebook products and here's part of what they wrote, "Well, I have contacted you by email several times now, and I have received no response. All I could download for $39.00 was the title page. Only one page which gave me only your name and that of another. I have asked you in repeated emails to communicate with me about the status of my order, which I asked you to send by email or hard copy to my physical address. I am not able to download it on the Internet with any of the links you provided, even though you state you want to give me the best service on the net. Is this a scam or do you think I am trying to scam you?...I do not want to think you are intentionally scamming me, but what other conclusion can I reach unless you communicate with me about what I can expect from you."

I was upset about the threatening tone of this email because it was the first time I had heard about his problem (even though he claimed to have sent several emails--according to him each email increased the confrontative tone and now I saw the final straw as my first email). The experience reminded me again that you can never count on email alone for communication--if you are going to have good communications. I wanted to resolve his issue--but I could not if I didn't know about it.

For the rare times that a customer has trouble downloading a product, I send the file to the person using a different method, then the person confirms they have received the Ebook and I've resolved the situation.

For some reason, this situation didn't seem like it was going to be so simple to resolve--and it wasn't. I telephoned the customer to see if it was resolved. He explained that he had not checked his email yet later that day, he called to report that he was still not able to download the Ebook. Why?

Here's where it is critical to have good communication. Through some questions and probing, I learned this person was on a dial-up modem. No wonder he couldn't download the Ebook because he's part of a rapidly shrinking part of the Internet world. He asked me to print out the ebook and mail it to him.

As I thought about this customer's experience on a dial-up, I printed the ebook. Then I considered the bonus items for the Ebook. These items were also downloadable files--and anyone on a dial-up would also experience trouble getting these files.

I decided to send more than the printed book in the mail. I copied the Ebook and the audio files on a CD which I tucked into the package along with my cover letter. In addition, I emailed the customer about what I had put together and asked him to watch for the package.

I could have refunded his money, shrugged it and forgotten the situation. Instead, I chose to find out the real issue and furnish him with the product that he wanted--even if it was not the normal way to deliver it. Good communication and even good customer service is worth the extra effort.

Here's the "rest of the story." The Ebook that I'm talking about was Writing For The Christian Market. Recently I was talking with someone about a Christian publishing company and the way they treated their customers. The person I was talking with was not a Christian but he complained, "This company talks all over their site about God and uses that reason why people should use their company. Because they are Christians, I hold them to a higher standard of excellence." While I didn't turn the discussion into one about faith and standards, I agreed with the person.

What are you doing to foster or hinder good communication in your writing life? That connection is critical in many different areas of life and it was a good reminder for me.